This application is a continuation-in-part application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/417,336, filed Oct. 13, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,271 which, in turn, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/103,991, filed Oct. 13, 1998.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pot which can be used for grilling, smoking, frying, boiling, steaming, and baking or roasting, and more specifically, to a pot which can be used in all of such cooking functions and which incorporates an adjustable vent system to adjust the amount of ambient air drawn into the pot during cooking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Outdoor cooking requires a wide variety of cooking devices, fuels, vessels and accessories. Various cooking devices include charcoal grills, gas grills, gas cookers, and open uncontrolled fires. These cooking devices require different fuels, for example charcoal, a gas such as butane or propane, or wood or other naturally-occurring fuels. Various cooking vessels include pots, skillets, pans, racks, grills, steamers, smokers, fryers, and a variety of other conventional vessels, each of which is adapted to cook food in a particular manner. Additional accessories, such as cooking racks and steaming baskets, can also be incorporated in such cooking vessels as required by the particular manner in which the food is to be cooked.
These widely varying types of cooking devices and vessels require a great deal of storage space when the outdoor cooking is to be performed in a residential setting, such as at home. These difficulties in storage are exacerbated when the outdoor cooking is to be performed away from home, such as at a vacation cottage or campsite. It is prohibitively difficult to transport the above-cooking devices, vessels and accessories as well as to supply appropriate fuel therefor. These storage space and transportation limitations often restrict the flexibility with which users can cook food in a particular desired manner.
The present invention provides a cooking pot which includes a base portion and a removable cover therefor, the base portion and the cover defining a cooking chamber. The cover has a generally annular outer edge and is formed with at least one protrusion interrupting the annular configuration of the outer edge. The base portion comprises a vessel having an upstanding wall of circular transverse section, the upstanding wall being provided with an annular lip extending radially outwardly therefrom at an upper portion thereof to seat the outer edge of the cover and thereby removably support the cover on the base portion.
The annular lip is formed with at least one vent opening therein. Thus, airflow between the ambient and the cooking chamber is adjustable by rotating the cover relative to the base portion to align the protrusion with the vent opening to permit free airflow therethrough, to move the protrusion wholly out of alignment with the vent opening to prevent airflow therethrough, and to partially align the protrusion with the vent opening to selectively restrict airflow therethrough.
The invention also provides a multifunctional cooking pot including a base portion and a removable cover having an outer edge, the base portion and the cover defining a cooking chamber. The base portion comprises a liquid-retainable vessel having a an upstanding wall terminating in an upper edge thereof. The multifunctional cooking pot also includes a removable lower rack supported within the base portion, a removable upper rack comprising at least one rack member supported on the base portion above the lower rack, and a cover support provided on the base portion outwardly of the upper rack for receiving the outer edge of the cover in seating relationship. The cooking pot is thus operable in any one of a plurality of cooking modes including but not limited to an open charcoal-grilling mode, a closed charcoal-grilling mode, an externally-heated charcoal-grilling mode, a grilling and smoking mode, a deep-frying mode, a boiling and simmering mode, a steaming mode, and oven modes, all of which are described with particularity hereinafter.
Preferably, the upper rack comprises a pair of rack members complementary to and coplanar with each other to overlie the base portion, the rack members being individually removable. This construction permits the multifunctional cooking pot to be operable in a further mode comprising a deep-frying and draining mode. In this mode, which will also be described with particularity hereinafter, one of the upper rack members is removed and food when deep-fried is placed on the other upper rack member to drain.